Horn Sweet Horn
Horn Sweet Horn is the fifth episode of the [[The Powerpuff Girls (2016 TV series)|2016 Powerpuff Girls series]]. It aired on Cartoon Network on April 7, 2016. This episode focuses on Donny and Bubbles. Synopsis Bubbles meets a talking pony named Donny, who wants to be a unicorn, but things take a wrong turn when Donny transforms into a monster that threatens Townsville. Characters Major Characters * * * * Donny (debut) Minor Characters * Narrator * * Students of Midway Elementary School **Barry * * * Unicorn Coalition Alliance Brigade ** Donny's mother ** Gretel Trivia *This episode uses another variant of the classic episode outro screen, in which the pulsating hearts are rainbow-colored instead of the usual pink. The Narrator is then heard saying "And so, the day was saved, thanks to....", and as he finishes, a gold shield with unicorn symbols pops up, and a group of female signers sing "The Unicorn Coalition Alliance Brigade Headquarters! It sounds made up, but it's totally not!". *This episode reveals that Buttercup is clueless about equine terminology. *The female singers in this episode sound similar to the ones from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Arrgh!". *A song similar to one in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage, is used when Bubbles is having an evil moment. *Bubbles could be considered the main antagonist in this episode for the next reasons: **Her reason to befriend Donny was purely a friendship for interest, because she only care prove that the unicorns exist and boast that she is friend of an unicorn, but she don't care Donny himself. **When Bubbles proposed bring Donny to the Professor's lab, and the Professor show Donny a list about the possibles risks of the experiment, Bubbles talk for Donny and make him accept without ask his opinion to the respect, showing a complete lack of concern for Donny if the experiment could harm him. **When the Professor admit his concerns about the risks of the experiment to turn Donny into an unicorn, Bubbles give him a death glare to threat him in proceed with the experiment, showing that Bubbles don't have intentions of stop the experiment, even if does mean threatening her father and forcing to Donny to accept it. **After that the experiment gone wrong and Donny became a monster, he ends his friendship with Bubbles and she only was sad by the fact that Donny wasn't her friend anymore, but she doesn't express any guilt or regret for her actions in force to Donny to this experiment that turn him in a monster. **During the confrontation, Bubbles still was interested in prove that Donny was an unicorn, but she don't show any concern by the situation of Donny, showing that she wasn't a true friend at all, she only see Donny as a tool to her selfish interest: boast that she is friend of an unicorn. *This is the second time that the female singers appeared in the reboot but this time they did not sing about Princess Morbucks but instead they sing about unicorns. *This episode is an allegory on transgender issues. Due to the show's portraying Donny's transformation as monstrous, the general response from viewers was that it was largely offensive. *One of the Hall of Pickledents, it was a reference of an American singer-songwriter, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music Dolly Parton. *This episode aired 17 years after the original series episode "The Rowdyruff Boys". *Donny's transformation is inspired by Brundlefly from the 1986 movie The Fly. *In Japanese dub, this episode is first episode of 2016 series, followed by "The Wrinklegruff Gals" and "Princess Buttercup". "Escape from Monster Island" is fifth episode in Japanese dub. *This episode is included on the The Powerpuff Girls: Tiara Trouble (V1) DVD. *'Irony: ' **Donny doesn't even realize he was a unicorn since his horn is covered his bangs the entire time, until his mother, Marybelle, uncovered Donny's bangs to see his horn. **The students of Midway Elementary are ridiculed at Bubbles that unicorns didn't exist, until she blows her "Totally Real Unicorn Horn", to summon unicorns to prove that unicorns actually exists. Controversy The first season episode "Horn, Sweet Horn" received scrutiny from the media after the episode's handling of transgender themes prompted criticism from LGBTQA viewers.[1]Sulagna Misra, writing for Fusion's official website, described the character Donny as an "interesting metaphor for transgender identity" but saw poor judgment in the choice to present the transformed character as a monster. She found the larger topic of identity reversed by making the plot so "convoluted" and preferred if the character's monstrous transformation had been a temporary gag instead.[2] Marie Solis of Mic also viewed the episode as a failed attempt to convey social issues, on par with the "Twisted Sister" episode from the [[The Powerpuff Girls (1998 TV series)|1998 Powerpuff Girls series]], in which the main characters conjure up a mentally challenged and physically deformed sister.[3] Dorian Dawes of the magazine B**** was extremely critical of the episode, calling its message questionable and dangerous in the wake of the House Bill 2 controversy. Dawes denounced the episode as irresponsible to the series' primary demographic and felt it was written solely to make the producers feel righteous about their inclusion of transgender themes.[4] It was eventually revealed that the writer didn't even mean for the episode to be about gender identity, and it was just marketed as such.[5] Video Professor Makes a Unicorn Powerpuff Girls Cartoon Network The Powerpuff Girls - Horn, Sweet Horn (Clip 1) The Powerpuff Girls - Horn, Sweet Horn (Clip 3) Category:2016 TV series Category:Episodes Category:Episodes focusing on Bubbles Category:Episodes with the female singers Category:2016 episodes with blue title cards Category:Episodes where The Powerpuff Girls do not save the day Category:Season 1 (2016) Category:Episodes about Transformations Category:Episodes focusing on Donny Category:Episodes written by Haley Mancini Category:Episodes written by Jake Goldman Category:Episodes directed by Nick Jennings Category:Episodes written by Julia Vickerman Category:Episodes written by Diego Molano Category:2016 Episodes